1. When I run the game the graphics leave trails and will not refresh.

Check to make sure you have one of the supported video chipsets listed in the minimum system requirements.

Once the drivers are installed if the problem persists, check to see that the hardware acceleration for the graphics are turned to full.

• Right click on the My Computer icon on the Windows desktop and select Properties.
• Click on the Performance tab on the right side of the System Properties window.
• Click on the Graphics button.
• The slider on this window should be set to Full acceleration.

Set your desktop to match the settings of the game.

• Click on Start, got to Settings, and click on Control Panel.
• When the Control Panel comes up, double click on the Display icon.
• Click on the Settings tab.
• Modify the Color Palette to say High Color 16 bit and the Desktop Area to 640 by 480.
• Click on the Apply button once the changes have been made and follow the on-screen prompts to finish the process.

As a last resort try starting the game up in Safemode and then exiting and starting normal again. Safemode can be launched from the Start menu, Programs, Star Trek Armada, and selecting Star Trek Armada Safemode.

2. When I try to join a multiplayer game it tells me I need to get the 1.2 patch, but I already have it.

If you have laready installed the 1.1 patch then go to the Star Trek Armada directory on your hard drive (default=C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek - Armada\) and find the anet.ini file in that directory.

• Double-click on the anet.ini file.
• When the "Open with" window comes up, select Notepad from the list of programs. Some systems will automatically open it in Notepad.
• Find the line that says:

[Version Info]
Version=1.0

• Modify it to say:

[Version Info]
Version=1.2

• Click on File, and select Save.
• Close the window and try joining a multiplayer game again.

Set your desktop to match the settings of the game.

• Click on Start, got to Settings, and click on Control Panel.
• When the Control Panel comes up, double click on the Display icon.
• Click on the Settings tab.
• Modify the Color Palette to say High Color 16 bit and the Desktop Area to 640 by 480.
• Click on the Apply button once the changes have been made and follow the on-screen prompts to finish the process.

As a last resort try starting the game up in Safemode and then exiting and starting normal again. Safemode can be launched from the Start menu, Programs, Star Trek Armada, and selecting Star Trek Armada Safemode.

3. The game is randomly crashing to the desktop.

• Make sure you have the latest video and sound card drivers from the manufacturers' websites.
• If you have a secondary 3D Card such as a Voodoo 1 or 2, you must have DirectX 7 compliant drivers for the primary card as well as the 3D card.
• Make sure the 3D hardware acceleration is turned all the way up:

  For Windows 98:
      1) Right-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop and select Properties.
      2) Select the Performance tab and click the Graphics button.
      3) Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full. 

  For Windows XP and 2000:
      1) Click on the Start button > Settings > Control Panel.
      2) Double-click the Display icon.
      3) Click the Settings tab.
      4) Click the Advanced button.
      5) Click the Troubleshoot tab.
      6) Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full.

• Set your desktop settings to 640 by 480 and High Color (16 bit).
• All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game.
• Change the DMA setting on the CD-ROM drive.
• Try changing the Asynchronous Cursor setting. If it is on, set it to off; if off, turn it on.

4. I am having problems installing the game and I would like to manually install it.

To manually install the game, follow the instructions below.

• Put the Star Trek Armada CD in the CD-ROM drive while holding down the Shift key. Continue to hold the Shift key until the CD-ROM light stops blinking.
• Double click on the My Computer icon on your desktop.
• Right-click on the CD-ROM drive and select Explore from the menu that pops up.
• When the Explorer window comes up, open the Setup folder.
• Double-click on the Data folder.
• Go to the Edit menu at the top of the Explorer window and select Select All from that menu, then select Copy.
• Now that we have the necessary data for Armada, lets copy it to the existing Armada directory on your hard drive.
• In the same Explorer window you're in, find the directory where you installed Star Trek Armada (C:\Program Files\Activision\Star Trek - Armada).
• Double-click on the Star Trek Armada folder to open it.
• Click on the Edit menu at the top of the Explorer window and select Paste from the menu.
• The files from the CD should start copying over to your hard drive.
• Once the files are finished copying, double click on the Armada.exe file to run the game.

NOTE: If you can't run the game in hardware mode, you will need to make a shortcut to the Armada.exe file with a software command line switch.

To create a shortcut:

• Highlight the Armada.exe file and go to the File menu.
• Select Create Shortcut from that menu. An icon should appear that says "Shortcut to Armada.exe".
• Drag and drop that to your desktop for easy access if you prefer.
• Right-click on the shortcut icon and select Properties.
• There should be a box that says Target in front of it, this is the box we will be editing. Go to the end of the Target line and after the end quotation mark put a space and type the following:

/software

• Click the Apply button and click OK.
• You can now double-click on that icon and the game should start up in software mode.

5. When I launch, I get a black screen or sometimes the game drops to desktop.

• Make sure you have the latest video and sound card drivers from the manufacturers' websites.
• Set your desktop settings to 640 by 480 and High Color (16 bit).
• All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game.

6. When I run the game I get the following Error message: Invalid Page Fault in Splash.exe.

This error message will appear on systems that are not running the correct version of DirectX, have out dated drivers or the hardware acceleration level for the video card has been set too low.

• Do not launch Armada from the Splash Screen that comes up when you insert the CD. Use the following method instead:

      1) Exit the Splash Screen when it comes up.
      2) Click on Start.
      3) Highlight Programs and select Windows Explorer.
      4) Open up the Program Files folder on the hard drive.
      5) Open Activision/ Armada.
      6) Double-click on the Armada.exe.
      7) The game should now start. 

• To create a shortcut from the Armada.exe to your desktop:
      1) Right-click on the Armada.exe and select Create Shortcut.
      2) Once the new Shortcut appears in the game folder, left-click and drag the new Shortcut to your desktop.
      3) Now, when you want to launch Armada, just double-click on the Armada.exe Shortcut.

7. I can't launch the game.

• Set your desktop settings to 640 by 480 and High Color (16 bit).
• All background applications must be shutdown prior to running the game.
• If you have a secondary 3D video card such as a Voodoo 1 or 2, you must have DirectX 7 compliant drivers for the primary card as well as the 3D card.
• Make sure the 3D hardware acceleration is turned all the way up:
      1) Right-click on the My Computer icon on the desktop and select Properties.
      2) Select the Performance tab and click the Graphics button.
      3) Make sure the acceleration slider is set to Full. 
• As a last resort try starting the game up in Safemode and then exiting and starting normal again. Safemode can be launched from the Start button > Programs > Star Trek Armada > Star Trek Armada Safemode.

Copy the imagehlp.dll from the Star Trek Armada CD.
  1) Double-click the My Computer icon.
  2) Right-click on the CD-ROM drive and select Find from the menu.
  3) In the Named window type the following:

imagehlp.dll

9. I'm playing in hardware mode and the graphics look really blocky and something isn't right.

• Make sure your system meets the minimum system requirements of the game.
• Make sure you have the latest video card driver from the manufacturer's website.
• If they do not have DirectX 7 compliant drivers, try to play Star Trek Armada in Safemode. Click the Start button > Programs > Star Trek Armada > Star Trek Armada Safemode.
• Recreate the Armada PRF file.
    1) Delete ARMADA.PRF from the Armada directory.
    2) Start a NEW game (this will regenerate the PRF).
    3) End the new game (if so desired). You can load saved games from this point on.

The Dual Monitor feature in Star Trek Armada only works with the Matrox G400 Dual Head. To enable it:
  1) Go to the Graphic Settings in the game.
  2) Click on the Display Driver.
  3) Select Dual Head.
  4) Go in the game you should see the cinematic window on the other monitor.

NOTE: This will not work in Windows 2000, the feature only seems to work in Windows 98.

From user feedback:
Star Trek: Armada is still my favorite game, although I played a lot of different titles since this appeared in 2000. But unfortunatly, it does not run well on modern systems, and there is little you can do about that. I made some tests for several weeks until I found a configuration on which it will run smoothly, and this is what I have found, if you want to post this somewhere. This is my old system configuration on which I play STA:

• ASUS motherboard (VIA Tech chipset);
• AMD Duron 800 MHz;
• 512 MB SDRAM (100 MHz Clock);
• NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 with 256 MB VRAM (for dual view play) or GeForce 2 MX with 32 MB VRAM (for single monitor);
• Windows Millennium (ver. 4.90.3000);
• Star Trek: Armada patch ver. 1.2 installed.